CHENNAI: Following the guidelines of National Education Policy (NEP), the Puducherry education department is gearing up to switch classes 6 to 9 and 11 from Tamil Nadu State syllabus to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum from the academic year 2023-24.
As per this decision, all middle, high and higher secondary schools in Puducherry will be converted to CBSE schools. However, in the case of classes 10 and 12, it is likely that the syllabus change will happen from the 2024-25 academic year only.
The syllabus for primary classes from 1 to 5 was already changed to CBSE in 2014. Hence, in the second phase, the rest of the classes are being changed too.
Hence as part of switching over, the training which started on May 15 for teachers and principals are currently underway at all government and government-aided schools in the Union Territory (UT). According to the department, about 1,200 graduate teachers and 150 principals and 600 other staff are undergoing training for the new curriculum.
Speaking to DT NEXT, R Ramesh, treasurer of Puducherry government teachers’ association said, “We are quite unsure as to how the government is going to implement CBSE syllabus to students who are used to studying TN State curriculum. Additionally, teachers also allege that the training is not sufficient for the new curriculum.”
“With the government planning to convert all schools from TN State syllabus to CBSE following the NEP guidelines; the teachers are caught in a dilemma over teaching the new curriculum, ” added Ramesh.
Hence, several members of various teachers’ associations have planned to meet Puducherry education minister A Namassivayam to discuss the plight of both teachers and students and discuss methods for students to pick up new syllabus.
Meanwhile, in order to adopt CBSE curriculum, the Puducherry school education has urged all schools to apply for CBSE affiliation. According to sources, so far 126 schools have been given approval for CBSE affiliation.
